Michael “The Bounty” Hunter’s opponent named

Michael Hunter (16-1, 11 KOs) will step up his pursuit of major fights in the heavyweight division as he faces Fabio Maldonado (26-2, 25 KOs) at the MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland on May 25, live on DAZN in the US and on Sky Sports in the UK.

Hunter has notched four wins at heavyweight since moving up from cruiserweight, and he is already in the reckoning for major fights amongst the big boys, having found himself in the conversation to face Anthony Joshua on the heavyweight ruler’s American debut at Madison Square Garden in New York on June 1. Maldonado has dropped two consecutive fights since stepping up his level of competition this year.

“I’m here to stay at heavyweight whatever is next,” said Hunter. “There’s a lot of avenues for me, a number of big fights out there and I will take anyone on. I’m always in the gym and I’m a real, traditional fighter that will take anyone. I have a lot more doors open for me but the first task is to win and win well against Maldonado, who is a dangerous and experienced guy.

“I’ve always been a small heavyweight. I just started off as a cruiserweight as a pro but I’ve always been a heavyweight really. I will just do what I do best and be me. I was a heavyweight as a teen and as an amateur, I’ve boxed lots of heavyweight fights but as I started to mature into the pro game and getting into my ‘man frame’ the weight started dropping off and cruiserweight became a real option for me.

“Here I am now as a heavyweight, my dream was always to be a heavyweight, nothing else. I didn’t really think about cruiserweight until I found out about the different divisions were, because as a kid you know the biggest, baddest man on the planet is the heavyweight world champion and that’s what I want to be.”

In the main event, unbeaten lightweight Devin Haney, is closing in on a first world title shot, faces Antonio Moran on his DAZN debut. In addition, rising heavyweight Filip Hrgovic takes on Gregory Corbin in his US debut, and WBC female super lightweight champion Jessica McCaskill looks to unify the division against WBA champion Anahi Sanchez.